FAA Reaches Agreement with NATCA Engineers and Architects

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) have signed an employment agreement covering approximately 1,200 engineers and architects who are responsible for the planning, design and installation of facilities, systems and equipment. Negotiations took place over the course of nine months and the agreement was overwhelmingly ratified by the union membership. This is the second voluntary agreement the FAA has reached with labor unions representing agency employees in the past several months. A national agreement was signed on May 24, 2007, with the National Association of Government Employees Local (NAGE) covering over 200 air traffic assistants who provide support for air traffic operations in terminal and en route facilities. Unlike most federal agencies, the FAA has special legislative authority to negotiate over pay and a broad range of personnel matters. An FAA goal in both negotiations was to bring more employees under the pay-for-performance plan. The FAA has increased the percentage of employees in its pay-for-performance plan to 84 percent.